A radio control model vehicle, such as a radio control automobile, boat, or airplane, may be controlled remotely by a transmit controller. A transmit controller is often an exclusively hardware device with an exclusively hardware built-in user interface. In a transmit controller, all user input may be received through mechanical hardware components such as knobs, dials, wheels, and switches. Output to the user might be provided solely through labeled positions of the hardware components and a few LEDs.
The built-in user interface of a transmit controller may be separated into two parts: a control user interface and a parameter user interface. The control user interface directly controls the movement of the model vehicle. For example, in a typical model automobile, the control user interface includes a steering wheel and a throttle trigger. When the user turns the steering wheel, the wheels of the vehicle may move accordingly. When the user displaces the trigger toward the grip, the vehicle may accelerate, and when the user displaces the trigger away from the grip, the vehicle may brake.
The parameter user interface allows a user to set operational parameters which indirectly control the operation of the vehicle. These operational parameters may be factory-set or user-specified. Some parameters may be mandatory parameters which must be set correctly to properly control the vehicle. Other parameters may be permissive parameters which may be set as a matter of preference. An example of a mandatory parameter is servo reversing, which determines whether the left-right steering of the user should be reversed to compensate for vehicles with reversed steering servos. Examples of permissive parameters include model vehicle acceleration, steering, and braking configurations.
The operational parameters may be stored in a memory of the transmit controller. The parameters may affect how the transmit controller translates input from the control user interface into output to the model vehicle. The transmit controller can be said to “determine” an output signal to the model vehicle based on the parameters and the input to the control user interface. In other words, the parameters may determine whether or not the transmit controller modifies a control instruction from the control user interface and, if the control instruction is modified, the parameters may determine how the control instruction is modified. A collection of parameter settings may be referred to as a “profile.”
In general, the functions of existing transmit controllers are inflexible. A user can do little beyond setting operational parameters using the parameter user interface and controlling the vehicle using the control user interface. In particular, it is difficult for one user to share a profile with another user. It is also difficult for a user to configure a transmit controller to communicate with telemetry sensors, and a transmit controller is typically unable to record data from telemetry sensors.
Adding additional electronic components to a conventional transmit controller may improve its functionality, but may also add significantly to the cost of the transmit controller. In addition, powering additional components may also significantly reduce the transmit controller's battery life. Thus, a need exists for a transmit controller which offers additional functionality without extensive additional components.